Often it comes down to how we see ourselves. Without going into any right or wrong way here I’ll just share a few ideas that I have used and also what some of my colleagues have used to try and get through this jungle.
Please note I am not selling a product. Just some experiences to offer anyone on a similar journey. Each of us has to find out what works. We are all different.
Begin with the End in Mind
I learned this many decades ago and still do it. I’d imagine how I want to see things end up. For example when I was doing my stand-up comedy, I would imagine the audience thanking me at the end of the night. I’d play this positive affirmation over and over in my mind. I’d imagine happy people saying they had never laughed so much.
Now some may say this is bullshit. But to me, these positive visions are much better than my negative visions of unease and failure. Which seems to be the default setting in my mind for many new projects and ideas. I just plough through the junk and try to give life to a fading star.
Be aware of doomsayers – they will try to pull you down and put you back into the way they see the world.
Interesting Books
Some of these titles are very old. These have been good for me along the way. I still have them, so I must have found them useful. Don’t buy them if they are out of copyright. Have a look in the Internet Archive. Most of the books carry the same messages – belief in ourselves and creative visualisation. With any book – take what works for you and dump what doesn’t. The book I got the most out of was Creative Visualisation but that was at that time in my life. We change.
- Consciously Creating Circumstances – George Winslow Plummer
- It Works – RHJ – Read for Free
- Creative Visualisation – Shakti Gawain
- The Power of Positive Thinking – Norman Vincent Peale
- How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
- The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Dr Joseph Murphy
- Psycho-Cybernetics – Maxwell Maltz
- Excuse me, Your Life is Waiting – Lynn Grabhorn
- As a Man Thinketh – James Allen
- The Law of Attraction – Esther and Jerry Hicks
- The Alchemist – Paul Coelho
Courses
I think we have to explore what is available and try it. Some work, some don’t. It’s up to the individual but it really depends who is driving/presenting the course more than the course itself. If they have energy and passion you’re on a winner.
- National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) as a playwright. I didn’t believe I’d been accepted and thought they made a mistake. Pretty good.
- Silva Method – superb course and presenter over a four days in the 80’s. Later courses had a myriad of feeble instructors and they didn’t work for me. First two courses – superb. Later courses – poor.
- Living Game – superb.
- Australian Film and Television School – before radio days. Great courses in writing and studio production.
- Air/TV – Channel 9/4IP – Announcing. Pretty good.
- Max Rowley Media Academy – pretty good.
- Iowa State University – How Writers Write Fiction. Superb.
- Curtin University Australia – Media. OK
- Michigan State University – Screenwriting for Television. Superb
- University of Auckland – Critical Thinking. Brilliant
- Neuro Linguistic Programming – Poor.
Find a Mentor
You don’t have to pay for a life coach. I worry about some life coaches in that they have not walked the walk but talk the talk. A mentor doesn’t have to be an official set up, just someone you admire who you can call or have coffee with occasionally. You can have many mentors for different areas of your life – but don’t use them to death as if they are a free psychologist. Also please don’t listen to the wanker who knows everything and says: “now what you should do!” Be aware and then beware, as one of my mentor’s told me. I am older now so some those before me have passed on but have left their wisdom.
Anecodote: A news reporter was off her head working in another radio station in Sydney. She called me for coffee. We met and she told me the situation she was in. I told her I had not been in a similar situation but from what she said I just shared different thoughts. I was careful to say these are my thoughts – just my observations. She was able to chew the cud and marinate a few ideas. Any decision on the matter was her decision. Often we can’t see the bigger pictures of life if our mind is clouded.
Always be careful who you confide in.
Anecdote. I had been placed in a difficult work situation with three bosses. I spoke ‘confidentially’ to my immediate boss about poor work flows. Unbeknown to me he spoke to the person concerned who just happened to be his boss. This big boss was, and knew he was, the instigator of the problems. He took offence and threatened me. He took away some of my jobs which dropped my salary. I was ignored. But there was no way I was going to let him force me out. It took about six months for the friction to settle but I never again trusted him or my immediate boss. Eighteen months later I resigned and the world opened up for me. Sometimes that dip in the road is really a springboard to a new adventure.
Start Today
If you are ready to take your next step then start today. You can have all the inspiration in the world but if you don’t take any action you stand still. Better to do something today than talk about doing something tomorrow…tomorrow…tomorrow.
The book ‘The Power of Now’ is a pretty good start.